JANUARY. 9 



The law, with a spirit of humanity honourable 

 to the nation, is opposed to tracking game in a 

 snow, yet this is a time of peculiar enjoyment 

 to the sportsman. Water-fowl are driven from 

 their secluded haunts in meres and marshes to 

 open streams ; snipes and woodcocks to springs 

 and small runnels ; where they become acces- 

 sible, and easily found. In towns and villages, 

 every mechanic and raw lad is seen marching 

 forth with his gun to slay his quota of red- 

 wings, field-fares, etc., which now become pas- 

 sive from cold and hunger. Let all good peo- 

 ple, who value their persons, keep at a distance 

 from suburban hedges ; for such sportsman is 

 sure to pop at every bird which comes before 

 him, be it sparrow, tomtit, or robin red-breast; 

 nothing comes amiss to him, and nothing does 

 he think of but his mark. Many an eye has 

 been lost ; many a cow, horse, and sheep, 

 has felt the sharp salutation of his desperate 

 shot, and shall do again ; for if the public does 

 not take warning, he will not. In farm-yards, 

 trains of corn are laid, and scores of sparrows, 

 finches, etc. are slaughtered at a shot. Even 

 the school-boy is bent upon their destruction. 

 His trap, made of four bricks and a few pegs, 

 is to be seen in every garden, and under every 

 rick, and with a sieve, a stick, and a string, 

 drawn through a window or a keyhole, he is 



